We all are being hacked, hijacked, and mind-naped. Yah, that’s right. I just finished reading the book, The Hacking of The American Mind by Dr. Robert Lustig and it was truly eye opening. As a Naturopath I already knew how excess fat and sugar was playing havoc in our bodies, however I learned how our brain chemistry and our emotions get altered by too much pleasure.

You might say, no, never too much pleasure but too much stimulation whether it is coming from a food source, or anything external will cause your dopamine ( a neurotransmitter) levels to sky-rocket and then crash and burn. This in turn will shut off your satiating mechanism in your brain saying you’ve had enough. So you are on an endless and vicious quest to satisfy your cravings.

We are being bombarded by food commercials that entice your senses to eat, advertisements to buy, the latest, greatest, biggest, shiniest, sexiest new thing that will make you feel good. We have become a consumer based society that has been hacked in believing we need more, more and more.

This is not how we are meant to live, trapped and handcuffed to corporate propaganda. We do have a choice. We can educate ourselves to recover our health and happiness.

The #1 best decision you can do for yourself right now is to take back your buying power and purchase simple natural foods and things.

We must realized that this virus has infiltrated our biochemistry and is controlling us. Then together we can unlock the gates, chains and shackles that have been keeping us hostage from the trance that we’ve been hypnotized to believe is just the way life is.

The greatest gift we were giving is the ability to choose. At any time we can choose a different thought. What will you choose?

Here is a story from a contributing blogger. Their information is at the bottom if you wanted to learn more.

“The light within is a quiet source of truth and guidance. The key is to be still and know. If I am quiet for just a moment and listen and wait, the inner wisdom reveals the next indicated step.” – Robert, Addiction Survivor

Addiction is one of the greatest struggles someone could ever face. Not only does it wreak havoc on our bodies, but it turns our own minds against us by fooling us into thinking we can’t survive without the very substances that are destroying us. The silver lining is that there is always help available to those who are lost in their addictions, but there’s a catch: you must want to get better in order to heal.

Dean’s inspiring story demonstrates just how important this mindset is — and proves that there is always light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how long the journey there may be.

***

After moving from one end of the world to another when he was only seven, Dean did whatever he could not to feel like an outsider. Unfortunately, this often led him to make some destructive decisions.

“I was always trying to find a way to fit in,” he remembered. “Around the time I was 12 or 13, I started drinking alcohol and smoking weed. I spent years of my life as a pothead.”

He was hit hard when his parents decided to get divorced, and he started using even more dangerous drugs in order to cope.

“My friends started taking Roxycontin, Oxycontin,” he said. “I remember the very first time that I tried it. I wish I could go back to that first day and tell myself what was going to happen to me if I took that pill. I had no prior knowledge about opiates and didn’t realize how addictive they were. I became addicted really quickly.”

After six months, though, Dean realized he was on a dangerous path, and he sought treatment. Unfortunately, he didn’t yet have the mindset he needed in order to face his addiction issues.

He admitted, “At that time, I really didn’t believe I was an addict. I relapsed pretty quickly after that experience.”

He reached out for help again and re-entered treatment with a fresh perspective — but even that didn’t last.

“My second time in rehab was a three-month inpatient rehab. It was really intense. I had almost two years of sobriety after that: I was following the steps and had a sponsor — but I didn’t follow through.”

When he hit another difficult period, his addicted brain once again took over the part of his mind that knew he needed to take better care of himself.

“Around 12 months into my sobriety, my parents were going through another divorce,” he said. “Around my 18-month milestone, I stopped using the program I built for myself. I started telling myself, ‘I’m not a real addict. I can beat this.’ So, I started drinking and smoking weed again with the help of an unhealthy relationship I had with a girl. Within a few months, I was doing heroin again, too.”

Despite his struggles, Dean persisted — he knew he had to get help, and no matter how many times he fell, he realized he had to keep trying. He reached out to several different facilities, but his past experiences with rehab taught him that he needed something a little more unique, something that would treat his addiction with a holistic, rather than simply medical, approach.

That’s when he learned about adventure therapy, and found a place that offered this unique treatment and could start treating him immediately. Using a blend of individual and group therapy as well as activities like hiking and ziplining, he finally learned the skills he now knows he was missing all along.

“I learned balance,” he said. “I obviously had been in programs before, but at [this rehab center], I learned that a balance of my mind, body and spirit was the key to unlock my brain. I know the 12 steps and the rooms of AA and NA — I know the song and dance to acquire ‘clean time.’ But I was working 12-, 16-, 18-hour shifts — often times 14 days in a row without a day off. My mind, body and spirit were unbalanced, which pushed me into a depression, and that let me slip back into my addiction after almost having two years clean. [This facility] opened my eyes to what life can be like in balance.”

Dean feels that it all came down to changing his mindset.

“I learned that I was putting up a lot of roadblocks in my life: things like, ‘I can’t do this,’ ‘I’m not good enough,’ ‘I’m not smart enough.’”

Now, he puts what he learned into practice every day.

“I stick to my balanced program: mind, body and spirit,” he explained. “I keep those three things in mind and I do what I need to do to fulfill those needs. I go to meetings, I go to the gym, I talk to other people in the program, I connect with other alumni on Facebook.”

If you or someone you know is struggling, don’t be afraid to get help. As Dean proved, there is no shame in falling a few times as long as you get back up each time. Sometimes, it’s as simple as having a changed mindset, a renewed perspective — and a genuine willingness to get back on the right path.

Constance Ray started Recoverywell.org with the goal of creating a safe place for people to share how addiction has affected them, whether they are combating it themselves or watching someone they care about work to overcome it. The goal is to share stories of hope from survivors who know that the fight against addiction is one worth having, because no matter how it affects you, life can get better.

Ego, we all have one. Our egos are the attachment to our self-image. When we are aware of our ego, we will have a healthy balance of self-esteem and self worth. If we believe we are superior to others we will act in ways that will express this identity through gaining power and authority over others. If we believe we are inferior or unworthy we will have an ego that shows us that this is true too.

Either way, these are false images. Being aware of our ego and not attaching to the self-image of who we think we are is how we can go beyond self limiting beliefs about ourselves.

I know that when I was a teenager, I never felt confident in myself. I felt I wasn’t good enough. It was a trying time for me. My father got sick when I was 15 years old and then passed away 2 years later. During these years it was very difficult for me to see past my ego that identified with not being loved and feelings of unworthiness.

It was a heavy burden to carry. After seeking help and counseling, I became aware that this wasn’t the truth. I was able to see beyond my ego and transform these limiting beliefs that keep me a prisoner of my own thinking.

When you feel your ego trying to edge in and get the better of you, stop and talk to yourself. Take a deep breath and become aware of what is going on. Maybe you need to speak up or maybe you need to meditate on something to gain clarity. Turn off the noise outside of you and inside of you. Listen to the quite voice within. The ego is loud and boastful, your authentic spirit is gentle, loving and kind.

Need more help? Reach out and listen to your inner voice that is always guiding you.

What does it take to navigate these times of uncertainty? Being curious. Children always ask questions? Being curious is the insatiable desire to know more.

In a world that is full of constant change, just keeping up with the change can be a full time job.

Rapid technological advances requires us to incorporate new ways of thinking and doing. Everything is becoming more and more automated. Kiosk’s in airports to self checkouts at supermarkets, and self driving cars and artificial intelligence are right around the corner.

Corporations are still downsizing and fast food chains are still supersizing. It seems like everything has gone upside down.

With all these changes, people are experiencing anxiety, fear losing their jobs, and fear of becoming irrelevant.

Looking beyond potential threats and toward potential opportunities are where the answers lie.

Being curious is one of the key elements that will keep your mind focused on possibilities rather than the threats.

Curiosity is the inquiring mind. It is asking how things can be done differently. It is staying open to new ideas and learning new things. It is a childlike innocence that wants to discover, explore, play and feel forever young..

Are you yearning for this experience? Let’s explore together. I have lots of questions for you that will spark your creative juices!